Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Following up on that point, I second Deputy O'Donnell's proposal. I sit on the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications Networks. There is an interesting and important window of opportunity to carry out that pilot study. We have this hybrid model, which I have argued against because I believe it should be stronger, of mandatory hotel quarantine for a specific cohort and a pre-departure PCR test for other people travelling, for instance, from London to Dublin, as well as recommendations and other obligations, but only advice regarding a post-arrival PCR test. What has been proposed here is to add to that serial antigen testing. It would be an interesting study to run over the period of a month.

It would provide useful information for the Government in terms of opportunities for the future and could be of benefit in the time ahead. The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communication Networks issued a letter on this and held very interesting hearings yesterday with Professor Ferguson. This is a real opportunity and I ask the Minister to respond on it.

The other issue I want to raise is the TRIPS waiver. While I do not want to repeat the questions asked by others on Government commitments, I do want to hear and see such commitments. I am firmly of the position that there is a real opportunity with the TRIPS waiver to increase the supply and reduce the cost of vaccines. The Minister referenced the success of the vaccine roll-out which may be the case from a European or North American perspective but from a global perspective, there are vast swathes of the planet that have not seen any vaccines. Indeed, some countries have not seen a single vaccine dose yet. There is enormous scope for improvement and the TRIPS waiver is part of that. What is the timeframe and at what level are discussions taking place? What is the role of the Irish Government in this? Does the Minister for Health have a role or is this a matter for the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, the Tánaiste or the Taoiseach? At what level are those discussions taking place and what is the expected timeframe for a decision?

See this speech in context